Despite cloudy weather, the Falcon's 9's nine Merlin 1C first stage engines flashed to life at 3.46pm EST, throttled up to full thrust and quickly pushed the 229ft-tall rocket straight up from historic pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Centre atop a brilliant jet of flaming exhaust.

Knifing through an overcast sky, the rocket quickly disappeared from view, leaving a slowly fading rumble in its wake.

Two minutes and 35 seconds after liftoff, the first stage separated and dropped away, followed a few seconds later by ignition of the second stage's single engine. Two firings 32 minutes after liftoff put the Es'hail 2 communications satellite into the required elliptical "transfer" orbit.

The launch was witnessed by HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs Dr Khalid bin Mohamed al-Attiyah and Qatar's ambassador to the US Sheikh Meshal bin Hamad al-Thani with other dignitaries and officials.

HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs Dr Khalid bin Mohamed al-Attiyah and Qatar's ambassador to the US Sheikh Meshal bin Hamad al-Thani with other dignitaries and officials watch the launch.

Earlier, Es’hailSat, the Qatar Satellite Company, announced the safe arrival of Es’hail-2 satellite at the SpaceX launch facility, in preparation for the launch.

Built by Mitsubishi Electric Company, based on their DS 2000 satellite bus, Es’hail-2 has a proven, modular platform with high power capability and flexibility for a broad range of applications. In addition to offering Ku-band capacity to support the growing 25.5?E / 26.0°E broadcast neighbourhood, Es’hail-2 also features multi-transponder Ka-band capacity with sophisticated anti-jamming capabilities providing business and government sectors with secure communications across the Mena region. The spacecraft has a design life in excess of 16 years.

Ali al-Kuwari, president and CEO of Es’hailSat, said earlier: “We are very excited about the upcoming launch of Es’hail-2, the second in our planned fleet of satellites. Es’hailSat, established in 2010 in Doha, owns and operates satellites to serve broadcasters, businesses and governments. Es’hail-1, launched in 2013, provides television, telecommunication, corporate and government services across the Mena region and beyond. Both Es’hail-1 and Es’hail-2 will be co-located at the 25.5°/26° E TV broadcasting hotspot.

"We are happy to announce that we launched #eshail_2 today with @SpaceX," Es'hailSat tweeted later.